More than 1 million people flood Madrid streets to see Pope Leo preside over open-air Mass
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Pope Leo XIV presided over an open-air mass at Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid on Sunday, drawing over a million attendees in the largest event of his week-long visit to Spain. Spanish royalty including King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia, and Prime Minister Sánchez attended the historic celebration. The pontiff spoke about God standing with the poor before crowds who waved flags and cheered enthusiastically.
Pope Leo honoured Spain’s centuries-old tradition of religious devotion on Sunday as a “school of faith” for today, as he presided over a Mass before more than a million people that highlighted one of the most iconic expressions of Spanish popular piety: a procession over flower-petal carpets.
The crowd cheered and shouted “This is the youth of the pope!” as Leo arrived for the Mass at a central Madrid plaza. He looped around the plaza and surrounding streets in his Popemobile before a crowd...